YMCA Gets Theater Tenant; National Grid Gets Bedbugs; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Carroll Gardens dog owners want "savage" Malamutes put to sleep.  New York Post  via  Gothamist

- A 16-year-old boy driving a minivan at more than twice the speed limit crashed into a Brooklyn house Sunday, killing his 13-year-old female passenger. NY Daily News

- Now that New York has won the Race to the Top funds, the NYC Dept. of Education has cut funding for after-school tutoring, arts programs and sports practices.  Gothamist

- The YWCA, owner of the 11-story building at Atlantic and Third avenues in Boerum Hill, has found an arts tenant who will restore its historic and long unused Memorial Hall theater. Brooklyn Eagle

- National Grid offices at 1 MetroTech in Downtown Brooklyn are infested with bedbugs.  Brooklyn Paper

- The Brooklyn Waldorf School in Fort Greene is most likely moving to a new building in Bed-Stuy. A Child Grows

- OMG. Look at what chicken nuggets are made out of. Gizmodo

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Fireworks Over New York City, Oct. 3, 2010

(Looking for fireworks on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2011? Try here.)

Those fireworks you heard over lower Manhattan / Brooklyn Sunday evening at 7:15 - 7:40 were sponsored by the Association of Indians in America in celebration of the Deepavali Festival, which this year coincides with the  start of the 19th Commonwealth Games. The games are the the largest ever international event for Delhi.

They were shot off from Pier 15 at the South Street Seaport. The views must have been awesome at Brooklyn Bridge Park!

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United Way Volunteer Festival Saturday at Cadman Plaza Park, Brooklyn

Wondering where all that music was coming from Saturday? United Way volunteers walked over the Brooklyn Bridge this morning (Oct. 2) and then enjoyed the great weather at the bash at Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn Heights/ Downtown Brooklyn.

 Called the "Live United" Volunteer Festival, the park rocked with live entertainment, food, and activities for children.

More than 75 nonprofit organizations set up tables to sign people up for volunteer activities.

The bridge walk was meant to bring attention to the need to "bridge" the gaps in education, income and health in New York City.
Photos by MK Metz

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Tropical Storm Nicole Passing Through Brooklyn -- Should Clear Up By Saturday

 What remains of tropical storm Nicole has snarled traffic, flooded West Side  subways and is causing three hour delays at New York City airports. (That's Flatbush Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn pictured above.)

But it should all be gone by tomorrow (predicted to be in the 60s and sunny).

Saturday's events like GreenHomeNYC’s Fall 2010 Green Buildings Open House, which will visit buildings across the city and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Chile Pepper Fiesta are a go.

Photo by MK Metz

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Vito's $25 Million Empire Frozen; Manholes Blow in Brooklyn Heights; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Gov. Paterson dealt a $25 million blow to the social-services empire of Brooklyn Democratic leader Vito Lopez by freezing all its state contracts "pending the outcome of ongoing investigations." NY Post

- Thar she blows (again) at Joralemon and Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights. Manhole flames brought fire engines (six units in all), EMS vehicles, police officers, Con Edison and National Grid vans and more. Brooklyn Eagle

- New York City depends on 700 fragile water pumps to keep the subway tunnels dry—some a century old. Gizmodo 

- The Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum is hosting a Halloween Costume Exchange now through October 12.  Brownstoner

- Brokelyn is giving away copies of The New Brooklyn Cookbook to three lucky winners.  Brokelyn 

- Here's a rundown of Wednesday's public meeting on the proposed Barclays Center Public Plaza at Atlantic Yards. Brooklyn Eagle

- Congress stops ShamWow, Snuggie ads from SCREAMING at you.  Fast Company

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'Bustin Brooklyn 2010' Makes You Want to Grab Your Longboard and Go

Brooklyn365 brings us "Bustin Brooklyn 2010" where longboarders bust up the streets of DUMBO, Williamsburg and under the Brooklyn Bridge.


According to Brooklyn365, Bustin Boards -- the Williamsburg custom-made longboard shop -- teamed up with CalStreets.com and Concrete Wave Magazine to film this video.

They make longboarding look like the most awesome. fun. ever.

Check out Brooklyn365's photo essay, "A Day in the Life of Bustin Boards."

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Assistant DA in Brooklyn Loses Real Job for Stint on 'Apprentice' - UPDATED

(See UPDATE below.) Assistant DA Mahsa Saeidi-Azcuy, who joined the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office last fall, submitted her resignation on Monday -- after her newfound celebrity on Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" started getting in the way of her job.

Jurors have begun to recognize her after only two episodes, according to Law.com, which says that  she asked for and received two months of unpaid leave, during which she filmed the show. But she neglected to inform the DA's office of the reason for her absence -- and a spokesperson said that had DA Hynes known the reason for the leave, it would not have been granted.

In her Q & A for NBC, Saeidi-Azcuy says, "Nothing is more exciting than risking it all for a chance to win BIG and live the American dream." But according to Law.com, her fellow contestants consider her kind of scary.

'Apprentice' Contender Quits Brooklyn DA's Office  Law.com

UPDATE: The Brooklyn Eagle has published an in-depth interview with Saeidi-Azcuy.


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Is Doug Biviano Over Politics? And More Brooklyn Briefs

- Is Doug Biviano finally getting disenchanted with politics? D'twn Brooklyn Star

- Another Ricky's boycott protest on Montague Street.  BHB

- The city is installing new pedestrian  "countdown" clocks along Third and Fourth Avenues.  Brooklyn Eagle 

- A Brooklyn man was arrested in New Paltz after witnesses allegedly saw him "behaving lewdly" inside of his car while parked in the Shop and Stop. Poughkeepsie Journal

- City to stop using rivers as giant toilet.  NY Observer

- Your sunblock probably doesn't really block the sun -- and may even speed up skin cancer. Fast Company 

- Scientists have finally discovered a planet the right size and temperature to support life.  MSNBC

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Planning-Ness in DUMBO Next Two Days

Planning-Ness (catch phrase: "Get Excite and Make Things") asked people from fields such as crowd sourcing, behavioral economics, data visualization and community engagement to teach what they know. They'll be meeting Sept. 30 - Oct. 1 in DUMBO (and also Denver) to hear speakers, join workshops and socialize.

Sessions cover topics like "How to Rethink Media," "How to Create and Use Urban Computing," and "How to tell Stories with Games." More here.


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Residential Parking Permits, a Filipino Legacy, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Councilwoman Letitia James is calling for residential parking permits near the Barclays Center arena.  Brooklyn Paper 

- DUMBO Art Festival 2010 winners announced.  DumboNYC

- In the 1930s a colony of Filipinos lived around Sands and Washington Streets near the Navy Yard. Purple Yam has uncovered a restaurant legacy. PurpleYamNYC

-Brooklyn is not the fastest growing borough. Not second, either. NYC

- Brooklyn brings a touch of geeky mayhem to Maker Faire.  Brooklyn Eagle

- Gold-dispensing ATMs are coming to the states. Gizmodo

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